Parents Denied Entrance

Pa. State law requires all school employees to undergo  background checks but it does not require its volunteers to do the same.Our School Board told me it was law.  Do they think I can't read?

I have been battling our school board for 2 solid days over a ridiculous rule they have put in place in our schools. Any volunteer who will be in our schools, at a school function or in contact with our students to secure a police criminal history report, a child abuse clearance, tuberculosis test results and a federal criminal history report and fill out an application that looks like an employment form complete with SS#, past job experience, did you ever get fired or quit a job and why.  Those who have been convicted of a criminal offense will be decided on case by case.

Now at first glance you are saying this is a great rule but when you understand all it covers you will be shaking your head just as I am!  For example..we have a fall dance Nov. 6th.  The fall dance is at night attended by students WITH their parents.  We have people who volunteer to take tickets, sell sodas, cook hot dogs and walk around the dance making sure everything is ok.  We have special persons day.  A special person for each child sits in the classroom with the teacher and children for 20 minutes while the kids make a presentation.  We have an apple picking trip set up for the kids where each kid goes with a parent on the bus to an orchard. These parents are now not permitted to volunteer at the dance without those clearances even though each child is with their own parents.  The apple picking trip has been cancelled due to the fact that parents do not have the clearances.  Special persons day will be cancelled if Grandma doesn't have a special list of clearances. 

Let's just say Grandma wants to go to the dance with little Chuckie.  She fills out the forms and they find that she was convicted of selling weed when she was 18.  She sold 5 joints to some guy.  Should we nail grandma's butt to the wall and deny her entrance to the dance.  I mean grandma is now 72 years old.  Do I care if she did that way back then?  Or how about the Dad who had a DUI at 20 and he's now 45.  Do I have the right to tell him that he can't come?  No but according to our school board they do!

While I absolutely understand that volunteers who come into the school on a regular basis should have these clearances I do not understand why it is now necessary to have a clearance to attend a dance with your own child or to pick apples with your own kid. Why on earth does the guy who will be grilling hot dogs have to have a clearance?  What could he possible do to the hot dogs?  Really this is over the top!  Now if my memory serves correctly no one at the hospital asked me for clearances to take my children home.  I didn't have to pass a test to have them.(although some women should have to take that test)

While I will fill out the forms myself why should both parents have to fill these out to attend a dance?  The cost for a couple to fill out the forms and get the tb test is over $200 and that depends on the amount the doctor visit costs you.  All this to go watch a 1st grader run around a gym. 

We have 9 school board members.  I called all 9.  5 of them agreed with me.  4 ignored my calls.  I was told the apple picking trip would be excluded and could go on.  I was told the dance would be excluded.  They lied.  Now it has to go before the board on Oct. 27th.  Guess where I'll be.  You bet your butt I will be in the front row with a posse behind me making damn sure they clarify the difference between a volunteer and a chaperone.  I mean really what's next...clearances to watch my older kids play on the basketball team.  Or maybe that's the rule already. 

This rule was brought to my attention by our principal.  She called me to alert me what was going on.  She needed me to make waves and get this sorted out so that it was logical and reasonable.  She sent out a paper to all parents in her school and told them the trip was cancelled due to the clearance issue.  She has already received calls from the administration that she is being insubordinate by telling me although they can't prove that she told me. 

It all boils down to covering their butts and the size of their swollen egos.  I had one board member ask me if I was trying to scare him by saying I would be at the meeting to make sure they straightened this out.  I am not scary.  I am straight forward.  I tell the truth and never beat around the bush.  I'm too busy for those games.  I am a mother and I am on a mission.  I did promise him that I will be at the dance with both my kids...my clearance will not be back in time.  I'd like to see them drag this Mom out.  Wish me luck on getting this extreme rule changed to be a little more reasonable!